Antonio Conte glad Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski could ‘breathe atmosphere’ of English game

Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte says he wanted new signings Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur to experience the intensity of English football after they came off the bench in Saturday’s FA Cup win over Brighton.

A Harry Kane brace helped Spurs to a 3-1 win over the Seagulls and booked their place in the fifth-round on an evening full of positives for Conte’s side.

Deadline-day signings from Juventus Kulusevki and Bentacur made their debuts in the second half, Cristian Romero and Heung-min Son returned from hamstring injuries with eye-catching displays and Emerson Royal made Spurs’ other goal with a deflected cross.

“It was important to breathe the atmosphere for the two new signings, Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur,” Conte said afterwards.

“It was important to come in and to understand the intensity of this league. [They are] two good players, two young players with talent. They can help us.

“Rodrigo, despite his age, only 24-years-old, has a lot of experience because he played 120 games for Juventus. Kulusevski, the same.

“I think they can help us. I’m pleased that I gave them the opportunity to come in and also breathe this fantastic atmosphere in our stadium. Our fans, the noise tonight was so intense that it was also very difficult to communicate with the players.

“When you come here from another league you need a bit of time to understand the intensity and understand that here the difficulty is very high. For me, tonight to give them the possibility to come in and play for 20-25 minutes was important for Kulusevski and Bentancur.

“Now start the second part of the season and I think with these two new signings we are more complete as a squad.”

Conte was pleased with his side’s intensity in front of a